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We have your attention that black lives matter. So what now?
Message discipline, allyship and inclusion are key to the Black Lives Matter movement. Without them, we can’t maintain its momentum and success
“What happened [with the murder of George Floyd] in America was terrible but I just think that’s America and this is England so I don’t think people should be going out to protest here”.
That was something a white British person recently said to me. It was said in the context of the Black Lives Matter protests and their concern that groups of people congregating might result in cases of coronavirus being spread. Although she didn’t consider the mostly white crowds that flocked to the seaside in May. Nor did she consider the mostly white VE day partygoers, gleefully launching into a conga line.
As someone clearly not engaged with Black Lives Matter, she viewed it as a movement that pertained to America and police brutality against black Americans. For her, the protesters in the UK, and elsewhere outside of America, were exclusively protesting against the murder of George Floyd. She perceived Black Lives Matter as a single issue movement. And one that had inexplicably drawn global support beyond Americans, who she thought were the only people it should truly concern.
